A
Vegetarian at Mickey's Table
Part II

How we learned to stop worrying and love the mouse!

by
Susan Shumaker and Than Saffel
authors of Vegetarian Walt Disney World and Greater Orlando!

This
is the second of a two-part series on Vegetarian Diningat WDW.

This
article appeared in the September 15, 2000 Issue #49 of ALL
EARS.The
first part can be found in the ALL EARS archive,
#Issue #45 August 25, 2000.

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.

Counter
Service and Buffet Restaurants

For
the mobile consumption units known as families, there are fast food
(or, in the genteel dialect of Disneyspeak, "quick service") restaurants
galore, as well as "all-you-care-to-eat" buffets. These eateries are
designed to handle the bulk of the food business in the parks, with
an approach that's closer to military precision than culinary finesse.

According
to Franz Kranzfelder, the menu of each quick service restaurant is largely
dictated by the public's tastes: if an item doesn't sell, it's substituted
with something that does. Despite the fluidity of the menus, these are
the toughest places to find something decent as a vegetarian, primarily
because there are no chefs waiting to whip something up if you don't
like what you see on the menu board.

That
having been said, quick-service food at Disney can be surprisingly good,
and a few oddball items--like veggie burgers and vegetarian rollups--do
find their way onto the occasional menu. Throughout Vegetarian Walt
Disney World and Greater Orlando, we include grids and recommendations
to help you find the spots that do the best job catering to vegetarians,
but--with a little advance planning--you'll have no problem finding
these on your own.

Table
Service Restaurants

It
is in the table service restaurants that vegetarians will find the widest
selection, and the best preparation. Organic produce, low-fat meals,
and even tofu frequently grace the menus at many of Walt Disney World's
finer establishments.

Our
favorites? We've got quite a few (don't get us started!), but there
are some places we never miss when we're on property, and one more where
we'd love to eat every time (if only we could afford to!). The former
category includes the California Grill and Artist Point, the Pacific
Northwest-inspired specialty restaurant in Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

To
make the widest variety of food available to the largest audience, Anette
builds many of her dishes, from the stocks right up to the seasonings,
to be vegan-friendly, adding cream or meat only as a garnish. With a
few minutes' notice, she and her team can whip up beautiful entrées
that are a feast for the eyes as well as for the palate.

"We
can pretty much accommodate any special request with 48 hours' notice,"
she encourages. "If a guest calls us and lets us know that he or she
is vegetarian, we'll let them know what is currently on the menu. We
can find out right there and then if we need to make special arrangements
for them and cook something special." "Usually," Anette continues, "our
vegetarian guests are amazed at what we can do."

Of
course, there are standouts in other resorts, and in the theme parks--and
some chefs definitely do a better job with tofu than others!--but that
will have to wait for another issue of ALL EARS. ;-)